Akbar has been a pillar of FDRIO from the outset, being our long-time Treasurer and one of FDRIO’s founding members. He is FDRIO’s longest-serving board member and executive committee member. 

Akbar is an Accredited Mediator and a Master Trainer certified by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London, England, since 2013. He also became an accredited Family Mediator certified by the Ontario Association for Family Mediation (OAFM) in 2014. He is B.Comm and C.A. finalist from London, England. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) from USA (1997-2015).

Akbar’s mediation career began in 1999 when he was appointed as a Mediator to the Regional Conciliation and Arbitration Board (RCAB) for Ontario by His Highness the Aga Khan. He served as a Volunteer Mediator for six years before being appointed as Chairperson of the Board in 2005, a role he held until 2012. During his term as Chairperson of the Ontario RCAB, he managed over 400 cases.

Over the last 25 years, Akbar has mediated over 600 disputes, including matrimonial, commercial, and Wills/Estate-related cases, as a Volunteer Mediator with the Aga Khan Conciliation and Arbitration Board for Ontario and as a Mediator with the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto and Newmarket, Ontario.

• Since 2014, he has traveled extensively as a Volunteer International Trainer, training over 400 CAB mediators in India, Tanzania, Kenya, Pakistan, Madagascar, Afghanistan, the USA, and within Canada, alongside other international faculty members.
• He also delivered a 40-hour Mediation and coaching course, called “Impact to Justice” in St. Lucia and Guyana, Caribbean Islands, in 2016 and 2017.
• He is a recipient of The Lifetime Achievement Award In Mediation & Training Mediators Globally. 

Akbar’s professional background includes 35 years with the Ontario Ministry of Health, where he served as an Auditor and Fraud Examiner and, for the last 15 years of his tenure, as the Acting Director of the Fraud Programs Branch, he supervised Fraud Prevention, Detection, Investigation and review of multi-million dollar programs in Ontario and worked closely and extensively with Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) for investigations and managed the contract of 22 OPP officers.

In this capacity, he also mediated several Union/Management issues as the Deputy Minister’s designee.

He is also a Forensic Financial Examiner and has volunteered his time to conduct financial and management reviews for the Aga Khan Health institutions in Pakistan, Kenya and Afghanistan, and the Aga Khan Academies in India and Kenya.